On Tuesday at Wembley, the Polish national team have nothing to play for against England.

But after being eliminated from World Cup qualification following their 1-0 defeat to Ukraine on Friday, the Poles are now hell-bent on one thing: denying England qualification. Anxiety levels in the home of soccer are reaching fever pitch.

Over 18,000 Polish fans are expected to cheer on their team amongst Wembley’s 90,000, heaping more pressure on Poland to put in a performance that could scupper England’s chances of making Brazil 2014.

England know a win will seal automatic qualification, but if Poland snatch a draw or even defeat the hosts, then the Three Lions must go through the dreaded play-off round en route to next summer’s World Cup. That’s assuming Ukraine beat minnows San Marino in their final group game… which they will, by five or six. See the Group H table below for all the details.

As for Poland, their players know they must still deliver on the pitch on Tuesday, even though they can’t deliver a World Cup appearance.

“There are sure to be many Polish fans there. We want to thank them with a good game and the right result,” Polish captain Jakub Blaszczykowski said. “It doesn’t matter that we only have honour to play for. Matches at Wembley are always very important to us.”

So, let’s break down exactly how Poland can spoil the party at Wembley, as Roy Hodgson looks to lead England to their fifth-straight World Cup.

PLAYERS PRIDE

We’ve already heard from captain Blaszczykowski about how Poland intend to go out in style instead of a whimper, and plenty of others have echoed that view. His Borussia Dortmund teammate Robert Lewandowski has also stated that “we want to at least allow our supporters a little fun.” And whether they admit it or not, ruining England’s chances of reaching the big dance would be a huge feather in the cap of every Polish player. To go to Wembley and grab a point or all three would be a huge moment in the nations history. I remember going to the old Wembley back in ’99 and seeing a Paul Scholes hat trick (his final goal came courtesy of a disguised punch that looked like a header) that still upsets some Polish fans, they’d love to get some revenge.

HUGE SUPPORT

And there will certainly be plenty of fans to see that take place, if it does. As aforementioned, more than 18,000 Polish fans are expected to cram into Wembley to see their heroes. Those players could give them serious bragging rights in England for some time to come. Ever since Poland was accepted into the EU in 2004, millions of Poles have flooded into England as the Eastern European nation now has significant communities set up in every major town and city. The Polish players know that, and with a huge section of fans cheering them on inside Wembley, England are worried about the X-factor of having a crowd the size of Sporting Park cheering on the visitors.

HISTORIC RIVALS

The truth is England and Poland have been here many times before. The climax of World Cup qualifying with the fate of one of the nations still up in the air, a battle between these two often springs up a dramatic finale as to who will make the dance. Since 1966, England have faced Poland nine times at home, winning seven and drawing two and more often than not it seems as though these two soccer mad nations are drawn together in qualifying for major tournaments. All-time, the nations have met 18 times, with England winning 10, drawing seven and losing just once in Chorzitw back in 1973. That ominous record will hang heavy over the head of Poland’s players, who want to deliver one last hurrah for their passionate fans. Can they upset England and deny the Three Lions a spot in the World Cup?

Organizers of the North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup insist FIFA members have not expressed concern about President Donald Trump’s harsh words about foreigners or the U.S. Justice Department prosecuting corrupt soccer officials.

“Look, this is not geopolitics,” new U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro said Monday during a conference call. “We’re talking about football and what fundamentally at the end of the day, what’s the best interests of football and our footballing community, and we’ve had no backlash. We’re very focused on the merits of our bid.”

A joint bid by the United States, Mexico and Canada was submitted to FIFA on Friday along with a proposal by Morocco. The 207 other members of the international soccer governing body will vote on June 13 in Moscow.

Cordeiro, Mexican Football Federation President Decio de Maria and Canadian Soccer Association President Steven Reed spoke from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where they were meeting with members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, a subset of the Asian Football Confederation.

A solo bid by the U.S. for the 2022 World Cup was favored going into the 2010 vote but lost to Qatar. FIFA then changed the vote rules to give the decision back to the entire membership, which chose hosts prior to 1986, when the choice started being made by the roughly two dozen members of its executive committee.

“We believe that the member associations are going to judge us on the quality of the bids, on the merits of our bid, and that’s it,” Reed said. “We’re very confident about what we’re putting forward, and I don’t think that we’re concerned about politics.”

Sixty games would be played in the U.S. under the bid plan, including all from the quarterfinals on. Three cities were included from Mexico and Canada, and both of those nations would host 10 games.

Holding a tournament in the U.S. would subject many of the documents generated to subpoena by U.S. federal prosecutors, who have secured numerous guilty pleas to corruption charges from soccer officials since 2015 and obtained convictions at trial last year against Juan Angel Napout, the former president of South American soccer’s governing body, and Jose Maria Marin, the former president of Brazil’s soccer federation.

“We haven’t had any of those concerns raised by any of the members that we’ve met so far,” Cordeiro said. “The reforms that FIFA undertook some years ago I think were spot on and we feel very confident that ultimately the right decision will be made.”

The North American bid proposed venues be selected from among 23 stadiums that exist or already are under construction, including three each in Mexico and Canada. Sixteen of the U.S. stadiums are sites of NFL teams.

“The split of matches that we have proposed to FIFA frankly reflects the resources of the three countries,” Cordeiro said. “We in the United States are blessed with some very substantial resources in terms of stadium infrastructure, of cities and so on, and that reflects the 60 matches that we have on the table. But at the end of the day there is a reason why FIFA have asked for or have encouraged joint bids and we do think that our joint bids taken together provide for a vastly superior bid than our competition.”

Between injuries, international call ups and a suspension, the LA Galaxy could be without as many as 10 players this weekend.

Ola Kamara, Romain Alessandrini and Giovani dos Santos are among the notable names likely to be absent for Saturday’s match against the Vancouver Whitecaps, but seven more players could be left unavailable for Sigi Schmid’s squad.

Kamara was the latest player to be named to his respective national team, with the striker being called up to Norway on Monday.

Meanwhile, both Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos have earned call ups to Mexico, and Emrah Klimenta has been selected by Montenegro for its next friendlies against Cyprus and Turkey.

Both Dos Santos brothers are battling injuries of their own, so they may not feature for El Tri, but that won’t necessarily help the Galaxy either as they are kept sidelined.

Of the ten players possibly missing the Whitecaps match, five of them (Michael Ciani, Cole, Gio dos Santos, J. dos Santos and Kamara) started in the Galaxy’s last game — a 2-1 loss to New York City FC.

Eden Hazard has long been a Madrid target, and with the Belgium international seemingly more and more interested by a move away from Stamford Bridge, the veteran attacker could see himself join Real after the World Cup in Russia.

According to Spanish outlet Diario Gol, Real could secure a move for Hazard this summer, while sending young attacker Marco Asensio to Chelsea.

While hypothetical at this point, the move makes sense for both clubs, particularly from a Blues perspective as they look for young attacking players.

The 22-year-old Asensio has been seeking regular minutes at Madrid, and with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale regularly included in the starting squad, that has been nearly impossible for the Spanish international.

Meanwhile, Real would be gaining another incredibly talented attacking piece to go along with Ronaldo and Bale, although the latter has been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu for some time.

Real has also been strongly linked with a move for Paris Saint-Germain winger Neymar, who has spent less than a season in France.

It’s a ways away from happening, but a front three of Hazard, Ronaldo and Neymar would certainly make El Clasico even more intriguing than usual, with Real facing off against a Barcelona squad that currently boasts Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho.

Striker Andrija Novakovich earned his first call up on Sunday when U.S. manager Dave Sarachan named the Telstar player in his squad, which will play the South American side on March 27 in Cary, North Carolina.

The 21-year-old forward has been nothing short of brilliant in his first season with the Dutch second-division club, scoring 18 league goals for Telstar — who sit fourth in the Eerste Divisie.

“It’s a good feeling to get the call-up and hopefully it will be a very good experience,” Novakovich said. “They [the U.S. national team] sent the club and myself an email saying that I was on the preliminary roster and we were just waiting, and then this week I got another email saying I was on the final roster.

“I called my Mum right away and she’s proud, she’s happy.

“I’m just there for the experience — of course I want to play, of course I want to get the opportunity and hopefully that will happen, It’s an honour to be called up and I’m very proud and very happy.”

Novakovich, a Wisconsin native, is currently on loan at Telstar from English Championship side Reading.

The young USMNT player moved to England back in 2014 to join Reading’s academy, despite originally planning on playing for Marquette University following high school.

Despite this being his first senior-team call up, Novakovich is familiar with the U.S. national team setup. Novakovich has previously represented the Under-17, U-18 and U-20 national teams.